La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 3-2 on the season with a 93-70 home victory over Wartburg College (Iowa) Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Knights drop to 1-5 on the year.
Wartburg (Iowa) took a 8-5 lead on Isaac Besh's three-pointer, but UWL's
Sam Grieger's layup,
JJ Paider's free throw and
Julian Hodges' jumper gave the Eagles a 10-8 lead. After Luke Ladwig tied the game on a jumper at 10-10 for the Knights with 12:34 remaining in the first half, Paider converted a pair of free throws for a 12-10 lead for UWL. The Eagles would not trail the rest of the game.
JJ Paider finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Knights later cut the lead to 17-14 with 9:44 left on Carter Cuvelier's two free throws, but the Eagles used a 11-0 run to take a 28-14 advantage with 7:05 remaining after
Will Fuhrmann's three-pointer. Wartburg (Iowa) cut it to 38-30 with 2:00 left in the first half, but jumpers from
Tarek Abdel Kireem and
Mack Sebert gave UWL a 42-30 halftime lead.
UWL used a 12-5 run to start the second half for a 54-35 lead with 17:03 left in the game. Trent Allard's layup cut it to 54-37, but the Eagles took their largest lead at 68-40 on a 14-3 run capped by
Will Fuhrmann's three-point field goal. Wartburg (Iowa) could not get no closer than 16 points the rest of the game.
Jake Gross led six players in double figures for UWL, finishing with 14 points off the bench, going five-of-10 from the field, including four-of-six from three-point range. He added five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Dustin Derousseau finished with 13 points while Grieger, Paider and Abdel Kireem each totaled 11 points. Grieger finished with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals while Paider recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds and four assists. Fuhrmann had 10 points, four assists and three steals.
Jake Gross had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
UWL, winners of three straight, shot 51.4% from the field Saturday, including 52.4% (11-of-21) from three-point range, and 72.7% (eight-of-11) at the free throw line. The Eagles finished with 20 assists and 12 steals while out-rebounding the Knights, 49-25.
Isaac Besh led Wartburg (Iowa) with 15 points while Ladwig finished with 11. Allard had nine points and team-high eight rebounds.
The Knights shot 40.0% from the field, including 39.3% (11-of-28) from three-point range, and 61.1% (11-of-18) at the line.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, November 29 hosting Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at 7 p.m.
